ALLSTATE ARENA - Last evening, the 2008 Grammy Award Winners, the Foo Fighters, performed for a sold out Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.
As the spotlight shined down from the heavens on David Grohl, the audience had risen from their seats and erupted with one of the largest ovations that the Allstate Arena probably has ever experienced. It was so large it must have reached outside the parking lot gates.
With the light shining down, Grohl started clapping and the arena clapped alongside him. When Taylor Hawkins hit that first beat on the drum and the strings were strung on the guitars and bass, the Foo Fighters commenced their first song “Let It Die” from the album titled Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace.
During “Let It Die,” the audience members jumped up and down near the stage and where my executive producer and I were situated. As the audience members jumped up and down the ground shook underneath our feet like an earthquake.
The Foo Fighters performed some of their biggest hit songs like “The Pretender” from the album titled Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, “Times Like These” from the album titled One By One and “Best of You” from the album titled In Your Honor.
Besides those hit songs played, we were entertained by David Grohl’s storytelling. After the encore, he remarked, “if it wasn’t for Rush’s album 2112, I might not be here.” Another story was about Grohl watching his first concert ever at the Cubby Bear in Chicago.
If the audience was not entertained early enough in the Foo Fighters’ performance, the evening further progressed when a middle stage was lowered. The audience was in shock and awe as the Foo Fighters walked to center stage and played some additional hit songs acoustically.
They played acoustically songs like “Skin And Bones” and “Marigold” from the album titled Skin And Bones, “Cold Day In The Sun” from the album titled In Your Honor, “My Hero” from the album titled The Colour And The Shape and “But, Honestly” from the album titled Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace.
After “But, Honestly” concluded, the entire band walked back to the main stage into darkness except for David Grohl. Grohl played solo for a majority of the song on “Everlong” from the album titled The Colour And The Shape on center stage. About midway through, the darkness became light and the band continued to play the remainder of the song with Grohl.
Just like the entire evening, the Foo Fighters were graced with additional background vocals as well as receiving loud ovations after each song concluded. You are asking yourself, what else happened this evening?
During the encore, David Grohl held the set list and it showed no additional songs after “All My Life” from the album One By One. Grohl and Taylor shared the backstage camera spotlight as Grohl threw up one finger to signify one more song.
The audience shook him off by booing. Grohl held up another finger. The audience shook him off again by booing. Taylor held up ten fingers and the arena erupted in excitement. Grohl preceded to shake him off and finally held up a third finger and the Foo Fighters once again graced us with three additional songs.
David Grohl sang a duet with violinist Jesse Green on the song titled “Big Me” from the album titled Foo Fighters. Unfortunately, the concert had to be concluded. So, it was no surprise that the Foo Fighters concluded their performance with “Best of You” from the album titled In Your Honor. As Grohl thanked the audience and blew a kiss to the arena, the concert concluded.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Foo Fighters, and I do not think there are many of you out there, visit their web site at www.foofighters.com or their MySpace page at www.myspace.com/foofighters and watch or listen to their music.
If it turns out that you enjoy the Foo Fighters’ music, make sure you purchase their albums at iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster or any store that sells their music. For those of you who own a video iPod, make sure you purchase the Foo Fighters Video Retrospective package that contains all of their earlier videos.
If you cannot afford the entire package, download your favorite individual videos. This might even include their newest videos like “The Pretender” and “Long Road To Ruin” from the album titled Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace.
Finally, I am looking forward to providing future coverage of the Foo Fighters whether it will be an interview, another live performance or both. Below is the set list from the Foo Fighters’ performance at the Allstate Arena.
Allstate Arena Set List:
- “Let It Die”
- “The Pretender”
- “Times Like These”
- “Breakout”
- “Learn To Fly”
- “Cheer Up, Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)”
- “This Is A Call”
- “Stacked Actors”
- “Skin And Bones”
- “Marigold”
- “My Hero”
- “Cold Day In The Sun”
- “But, Honestly”
- “Everlong”
- “Monkey Wrench”
- “All My Life”
Encore:
- “Big Me”
- “Long Road To Ruin”
- “Best Of You”
akecker@alwaysacoustic.com
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace